Post-Pandemic Office Solutions

Are you ready for employees to safely return to the workplace?Due to the new realities of the coronavirus pandemic, the open-plan office must change.
Facilities managers, designers, and building owners need to get ready NOW for your workforce to return safely.
Find out how Good Earth Plants can help you get back to business!

News

Is 2020 over yet?
The situation in our country and in our communities leaves me nearly speechless.
It has been a rough year. First, the coronavirus hit. Second, the U.S. economy took a dive, causing unemployment so high it didn’t even seem real.
Then, just as it seemed like we might get through the worse of the pandemic crisis, the senseless murder of an African-American man in Minneapolis set off a chain reaction across the U.S. of anger and hurt, including in my home town — specifically the city of La Mesa, California.
Many people staged peaceful protests. Some senseless opportunists used the protests as cover to pillage innocent business owners and communities.… Read More

First it was toilet paper and alcohol wipes. Then it was hair color, followed by flour and yeast.
During the coronavirus pandemic, people cleared the shelves of basic items they were desperate to find. Next, it was things they needed to entertain themselves, Who knew there would be a rush on baking bread at home? In the third wave, people looked around at their homes which were now also their offices and their kids’ schools and realized something important was missing.
House plants! They are flying off the shelves and out of the garden centers.
The National Gardening Association is fielding half a million questions a week from gardeners.… Read More

You may know the saying claiming the Chinese characters for the words “crisis” and “opportunity” are the same. Well, not exactly. If you do a little digging and read what modern Chinese speakers say, this isn’t correct.
There IS a popular saying in modern Chinese communities 危機就是轉機 which translates as “A crisis is also a turning point.” It’s possible over time these two ideas have merged. People are said to use this phrase to comfort or console someone who is in a very bad situation, whether it’s their fault or not.
If ever we needed consoling in a bad situation in modern times it’s now during the coronavirus pandemic.… Read More

What started out as a joke turned into one of Good Earth Plant Company’s most popular blog post of all time. Who knew we would become the champions of World Naked Gardening Day? ‘Many are called but few are chosen.’
World Naked Gardening Day takes place the first Saturday in May. Seattle resident and WNGD founder Mark Storey probably never imagined how big his idea would get. He encourages people to help spread the word, and we won’t let him down even from quarantine.
The world has changed a LOT since we last celebrated World Naked Gardening Day. We’ve missed other holidays along the way.… Read More

Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day took place in 1970. It is now an annual event celebrated on April 22, coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. It reaches more than 192 countries each year including hundreds of communities in the United States.
Earth Day fell on Wednesday this week – but with everything going on in the world around us, you might have missed it. Earth Week 2020’s formal activities including San Diego’s free, all-volunteer Earth Fair at Balboa Park had to be postponed. The County of San Diego offers a virtual Earth Day online here.
But Mother Earth is enjoying the celebration.… Read More

It’s been both heartbreaking and heartening to watch what’s going on in the world today. For every bit of devastating news about the coronavirus pandemic, acts of human kindness and generosity give me new energy.
One of the harder hit industries is our wholesale ornamental plant and flower nurseries in San Diego County. My colleagues at Olive Hill Greenhouses, Leucadia Nursery, and FlorAbunda Nursery, members of the San Diego County Floral and Plant Association who supply me with the plants for our clients at Good Earth Plant Company have seen their business drop, leaving them with greenhouses full of plants with a limited shelf life.… Read More

Jim Mumford: My mom, Sandy Fowler, is a cross-cultural psychologist. At age 81, she is the current president of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training And Research (SIETAR USA). Its annual conference is still a ‘go’ in Omaha, Nebraska this October. Mom is working diligently to make sure it’s a success. This blog was originally written by Sandy, and I found it worth sharing with our readers with a few updates – making it the first-ever mother-son blog post for Good Earth Plant Company! How about that, Mom?
Sandy Fowler: I would observe that when Jim was young, he didn’t do as good a job at taking my advice as he has lately.… Read More

Parents used to worry about ways to keep their kids busy and out of trouble during their summer break from school. Now kids are on a never-ending spring into summer break, and it’s up to families to keep their education on track. I’ve never been so glad my kids are young adults now!
Learning doesn’t always have to mean books and staying indoors. Encourage your kids to do something that comes naturally. Let them get their hands dirty in fun gardening activities. Take advantage of San Diego’s weather (when the rain clears) to hold a living science class outdoors.
There are many age-appropriate opportunities for gardening and art projects that will instill a love of nature that will last a lifetime.… Read More

Has it only been a week since my last blog post? Since then, schools, stores, restaurants, bars, gyms, and many workplaces have closed down to try and stop the coronavirus pandemic from spreading.
California residents like me and many other Americans are being asked to shelter in place. We are asked to stay at home except to “provide or receive essential services or engage in certain essential activities and work for essential business or government services.” For those few clients that allow us, we consider their plants and asset worth protecting and we are watering them. You can pick up groceries and prescriptions, take your dog to the vet, or put your trash out for collection.… Read More

Chances are good you’re spending a lot more time indoors right now. But here is the reality: it’s nothing new.
Ongoing research by the Environmental Protection Agency reveals some shocking stats: Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors. If you’re very young or older, you tend to spend even more time indoors.
There are a lot of reasons people are anxious about health issues today. But some of us have been concerned for a long time. Here’s why: indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than our air outdoors. This comes as a surprise to many people.… Read More